Warren hangs his hat on two white varieties, Verdelho and Chardonnay but Chardonnay is his true baby, I even heard a rumour (from Sue) that Warren is considering planting Chardonnay in his vineyard. Of course if he listened to me he’d just plant more Mourvèdre but that’s another story.
I would hope by now that all the Granite Belt visitors have discovered Wyberba, if you haven’t then next time you visit don’t believe that the great wines finish at Ballandean. When you’ve sampled the lovely wines of Ballandean wineries, drive south straight down the New England Highway, it’s not far. Turn left at Pyramids Road and you’re almost at Balancing Heart, Girraween Estate, and Pyramids Road Wines.
This is a big Chardonnay and made more so by Warren’s wine making and from a vintage that could easily handle the oak. 50% wild yeast, 75% malo, 9 months on lees and stirred regularly for the first few months. This is the first one I’ve opened, I knew this wine needed time!
The colour is stunning, glowing gold with a slight shimmer of luminant lemon. Some of the drought year skins have produced amazing colour in Granite Belt wines but this is the most impressive colour I’ve seen in a local 2019 white to date.
An energetic bouquet redolent with stone fruits and some citrus, a little toast and vanilla and a pithy earthiness.
A textural palate complexed with flavour and accentuated in part by the wild yeast showcases a wine with power and balance. Ripe peaches plummet at your palate through fleshy but vigorous nectarines, sour brown limes press themselves over lemons, pithy sour apricot washes upwards and produces some pucker, the length of the wine is long and vibrant and this elongated stream runs with considerable verve along a granitic foundation displacing and washing minerals through the flow.
This is a beautiful Granite Belt Chardonnay, it left my wife searching for superlatives. A long life ahead, drink now or cellar for years.
Tasted: Sunday 26th March, 2023 without food and then with over several hours.
Alcohol: 12.2%
Closure: Screwcap
Price: $40
Suggested Drinking Window: now to 2034
Winemaker: Warren Smith
Fruit Source: Estate
Oak: French – 2 x new, 1 x second use, 1 x older
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